Currently, some gondola cars of the rotary dump type are constructed to include a depressed center section to lower the center of gravity of the car and to provide increased capacity for the car. One such car is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,400 to Teoli.
A more recent patent on a rotary dump gondola car is U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,097 issued to Jones, et al. on Nov. 30, 1982. The gondola car of the '097 patent includes a depressed center portion that is constructed of two parallel extending concave troughs that are disposed between the trucks supporting the car. The car has enjoyed a reasonable amount of success because of the increased capacity and the lower center of gravity provided by the structure described in the patent.
This invention provides an improved gondola car of the rotary dump type that includes a pair of troughs that extend between the trucks supporting the railway car and are disposed along each side of a center sill that extends the full length of the car. The troughs of the car of this invention, contrary to those illustrated in the '097 patent are deeper adjacent to the trucks than at the latitudinal center line of the car. The ability to make the troughs deeper near the trucks provides a greater capacity car having a lower center of gravity or, on the other hand, provides a car having the same capacity with a lower overall height to reduce the drag effect from the wind as the car is being pulled along the tracks.